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‘The Good Wife’: Lockhart-Gardner, Now with 100% Less Gardner

“The Good Wife” threw a curve ball that changed the whole game. In this week’s episode (“Live From Damascus”), Wendy Scott Carr’s (Anika Noni Rose) thirst for revenge was quenched at the cost of Will Gardner’s (Josh Charles) career. The vengeful former special prosecutor turned Will in to the bar association for the 45 thousand dollars that he borrowed from the law firm where he worked fifteen years ago. It turns out that the statute of limitations for minor legal infractions is far longer than for most felonies. Will faces a disbarment hearing. Let’s review that. Peter (Chris Noth) went to prison, had sex with hookers, and is now the State’s Attorney. Will made a mistake with no consequences over a decade ago and could lose his license to practice law. The Illinois state bar has some interesting ethics. Will knows that he has no defense because he is guilty. So Diane (Christine Baranski) takes matters into her own hands, telling the bar that Will deserves leniency because he created Lockhart-Gardner’s pro bono department. That would be the pro bono department that Diane created over Will’s objections. The bar buys it and offers Will a six month suspension. Diane advises him not to take the deal, and fight for his right to practice law. It’s a conversation with Alicia (Julianna Margulies) that persuades him to take a six month sabbatical. Is it that he wants to be a better nab than Peter and own up to his mistakes? Or is he scared that he will lose the right to practice law forever? Or, Will/Alicia shippers, could it be that he hopes that if he is no longer Alicia’s boss the two of them will have a shot at a real relationship? Watch the clip and decide for yourself.

Will’s unplanned vacation upended absolutely everything about Lockhart-Gardner. Diane plans to change the name of the firm to Lockhart & Associates. Now the rest of the partners are poised for a massive power struggle. Alicia inherits one of Will’s cases — helping Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) with some tax issues. How shady are Kalinda’s business dealings? Does this mean that Alicia is going to have to deal with that evil treasury department lawyer again?

The State’s Attorney’s office is going through a similar organizational restructuring. Now that Wendy is out, Cary (Matt Czuchry) has the power to reassign everyone. He sends Dana (Monica Raymund) to work on child support enforcement. So much for their romance.

This may have been the show’s most star studded episode yet, featuring Rita Wilson, Parker Posey, Amy Sedaris, Jonathan Groff and Denis O’Hare. It’s worth watching in its entirety just to see O’Hare, reprising his role as a quirky judge, express his love for Operation Wall Street.